CLEVELAND, Miss. -- The Delta State University football team (2-0) scored 38 unanswered points to erase a 10-point deficit and earn a 45-17 win over McKendree University (0-2) on Saturday night at Parker Field-McCool Stadium.
 
Patrick Shegog tossed three touchdown passes and rushed for two more scores while the Statesmen defense held the Bearcats to 33 yards of offense in the second half.
  
THE BASICS
Score: Delta State 45 | McKendree University 17
Records: Statesmen (2-0) | Bearcats (0-2)
Date: Thursday, Sept. 11, 2021 | TOG: 3:17
Location: Parker Field-McCool Stadium
Series: Statesmen lead 1-0
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HOW IT HAPPENED:

• A Ryan Kasle 43-yard field goal and a Turner Pullen 17-yard touchdown pass to Jacob Bachman gave McKendree a 10-0 lead with 7:31 left in the opening quarter.
• Rico Owens 28-yard run on a fake punt kept a Statesmen drive alive, setting up a Patrick Shegog one-yard plunge to cut the Bearcats lead to 10-7 with 3:59 to go in the first quarter.
• Turner Pullen dashed 23 yards to cap a five-play, 36-yard drive and stake the Bearcats to a 17-7 lead two minutes into the second quarter.
• The Statesmen reeled off 14 points to close the first half.
• Tyler Kenney caught a 10-yard pass from Shegog at the 4:58 mark and Dohnte Meyers was on the receiving end of a 65-yard catch and run to give the Statesmen a 21-17 halftime lead.
• Shegog tossed a 15-yard scoring strike to Owens just under two minutes into the third quarter to extend the lead to 28-17.
• Connor Mantelli connected on a 20-yard field goal at the 4:01 mark to push the Statesmen's lead to 31-17.
• Shegog scrambled for a 15-yard touchdown run to move the lead to 38-17 with 12:51 remaining in the fourth quarter.
• Kory Gainwell added a seven-yard rushing touchdown for a 45-17 lead with 9:17 to go.

OFFENSIVE NOTEABLES:

• The Statesmen finished with 473 yards of total offense. 201 on the ground and 272 yards passing.
• Shegog accounted for 360 of total offense, including 272 through the air and 88 on the ground. He also tossed three touchdowns and rushed for two more.
• Rico Owens rushed 10 times for 59 yards and caught a 15-yard touchdown pass.
• Dohnte Meyers led the Statesmen with four catches for 110 yards and a touchdown and Tyler Kennedy had two catches for 61 yards and a touchdown.
• Gainwell rushed five times for 23 yards and touchdown.

DEFENSIVE NOTEABLES:

• After McKendree had 276 yards in the first half, the Statesmen defense limited the Bearcats offense to 33 yards on the second half.
• Dante Williams finished with 12 tackles, one sack, one tackle for loss and a fumble forced to lead the Statesmen defense.

SPECIAL TEAMS NOTEABLES:

• Mantelli was a perfect 6-for-6 on extra points and connected on a 20-yard field goal with 4:01 to go in the second quarter.
• Parker Burleson averaged 43.2 yards on five punt attempts with four pinned inside the McKendree 20-yard line.
• Robbie Evans returned four punts for 34 yards.
• Kory Gainwell had three kickoff returns for 83 yards, marking the second straight week with 80-plus yards in returns.

OTHER NOTEABLES:

• The Statesmen begin the season 2-0 for the first time in since 2017.
• Shegog and Cole Kirk completed passes to eight different receivers on the night.
• This was the first meeting between Delta State and McKendree and the sixth all-time meeting against a team from the Great Lakes Valley Conference.
• Delta State improved to 38-5 all-time under Todd Cooley when scoring over 30 points in a game.
• Delta State is 37-3 under Cooley when leading at halftime.
• The win marked the 45th win for Cooley at Delta State.

UP NEXT:

Delta State travels to the No. 25 University of West Georgia on Sat., Sept. 18 at 5 p.m. (CT).